The price spread between the SHFE copper 2610-2611 contracts rapidly widened to a backwardation of 710 yuan/mt.

Spot #1 copper cathode in North China was quoted at premiums of 760-860 yuan/mt against the front-month contract today, with an average premium of 810 yuan/mt, down 90 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average transaction price was 110,750 yuan/mt, down 185 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

SMM, September 29: Minera Esperanza and Distrito Centinela, two unions at Antofagasta's Centinela copper mine in Chile, completed their strike votes on September 28. The unions said all members eligible to vote participated in the ballot, with 98.73% voting in favor of a strike and rejecting the collective bargaining proposal put forward by the company. The dispute between the two sides mainly involves differences in pay and benefits among members of different unions. The mine has not yet halted production as a result of the vote, and the outcome of labor mediation still needs to be monitored. According to Antofagasta's disclosure, Centinela produced a total of 240,400 mt Cu in 2025, including 174,300 mt Cu in copper concentrates and 66,100 mt of copper cathode. The Centinela second beneficiation plant under construction at the mine has a designed ore processing capacity of 95,000 mt/day. The mine expects the project to come on stream in 2027, and after commissioning, it plans to add approximately 144,000 mt Cu of copper production per year. Whether existing mine production and the construction progress of the second beneficiation plant will be affected by labor negotiations remains to be seen.